Justina Huddleston
Expertise
Celebrity Chefs, Food Television, Specialty Ingredients
- Justina has interviewed celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Andrew Zimmern, Duff Goldman, and Michael Voltaggio. She even got to color in a mural of Flay's cat Nacho at the 10-year anniversary party for his Las Vegas restaurant Mesa Grill.
- Always looking for a new tasty bite, she's eaten at more than 250 different restaurants in Los Angeles, from street vendors in her neighborhood selling huaraches and pupusas, to private events at celebrity-fronted restaurants like Curtis Stone's Michelin-starred Gwen.
- In pursuit of interesting food stories, Justina has traveled for work to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands to learn about rum; and to Las Vegas to learn about mixology.
Experience
Justina began her career writing about educational children's toys while blogging about recipes on the side. In 2015, she transitioned to writing professionally about her true passion: food and cooking. Her work, which includes original recipes, celebrity chef and expert interviews, recipe roundups, and food news, has appeared in SheKnows, Brit + Co, Yahoo, MSN, HuffPo, and more. Justina's passion for cooking great meals at home has led to a lifelong love of researching specialty and international ingredients, following the careers of the hottest established and up-and-coming chefs, discovering new cooking tips and hacks used by industry pros, and tracking all of the fun gossip that comes with obsessively watching Food Network. Justina began writing for Static Media in 2018, and is now a part of the Mashed News team.
Education
Justina has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, and is currently pursuing an Associate Degree in Child Development from Los Angeles Valley College.
Foodie is created by a team of knowledgeable writers and editors with expertise in all areas of the food and drink world, including restaurants and fine dining, food TV, celebrity chefs, and at-home cooking. Our veteran editors ensure every article contains factual and timely information, and consults with outside experts as needed.
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Stories By Justina Huddleston
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Entertainment
By Justina Huddleston
José Andrés says his wife Patricia doesn't like to cook, but she does make a great gazpacho. He says it's part of the reason he wanted to marry her.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Elevate the flavor of store-bought marinara with Giada De Laurentiis' tip: adding in a Parmesan cheese chunk or rind when heating the sauce.
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Entertainment
By Justina Huddleston
Ina Garten says cassis brings out the flavor of plums in the same way coffee and vanilla can highlight the depth of flavor in chocolate.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
If you've ever tried made a fruit-filled cake at home, you may have found that all of the fruit sank to the bottom. There's a few hacks that can help.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
If you line your baking pans with parchment paper before roasting veggies to avoid a mess, you've also been preventing them from browning and developing flavor.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
The reason vodka can give your fried chicken a boost has to do with how it interacts with the flour in your batter and the hot frying oil.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Steaks cooked at home never have quite the same flavor as restaurants and that's due to their higher-quality, dry-aged beef and higher heat capabilities.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
Ube is the ingredient behind many purple foods and is becoming increasingly popular in the US, though it's been eaten in Asia since people have been farming.
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Drink
By Justina Huddleston
Should we write whiskey or whisky? Turns out there's one easy way to understand the difference between whiskey with an 'e' and whisky without it.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
Brining your Thanksgiving turkey is a must if you want a flavorful, juicy holiday bird, but not any brine will do. Dry brining is really the way to go.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
To make cutting and peeling your squash easier, you can microwave it first, which will partially cook it. This softens it up and makes it easier to cut.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
So what are those little white globs and rivulets (that look a bit like scrambled egg whites) that appear on the surface of salmon as it cooks?
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Restaurants
By Justina Huddleston
At most restaurants, bread and butter is such an afterthought that they give it away for free. But NYC's Quality Bistro has turned into the star of the show.
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Drink
By Justina Huddleston
If you have leftover wine you don't want to throw away, one of the best things to do with it is to freeze it for later use in a variety of recipes.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Uni is a divisive food. Some folks love it, but others not so much. Here's everything you need to know about the soft yellow lobes found inside sea urchins.
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Drink
By Justina Huddleston
To change a bad cup of cheap coffee into a more enjoyable and smooth sipping experience, you can easily add these two ingredients to your brew.
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Restaurants
By Justina Huddleston
Some US cultural practices just don't translate to other countries. Take tipping, for example. There's one mistake your probably making when you're abroad.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
The US produced 4.9 million gallons of maple syrup in 2022, but it's nothing compared to the amount of syrup one Canadian province produces.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Have you been told that pepitas and pumpkin seeds are the same thing only to wonder why they look pretty different? There's a small distinction between the two.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
When you buy ribs for grilling, you might be a bit confused since you'll be able to choose between baby back ribs and spare ribs. Do you know the difference?
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
If you cook with cast iron then you're likely familiar with its rough, textured surface, but did you know it's not always been that way?
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
Typical recipes call for corn, black beans, black-eyed peas, onions, and seasonings like garlic, herbs, and vinaigrette, but variations abound.
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Restaurants
By Justina Huddleston
Splitting a check between a group of people can be fraught with miscommunication and, worst of all, can breaking restaurant etiquette.
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Entertainment
By Justina Huddleston
Considering the flavor they add, it's no wonder we throw onions in nearly everything. But it's not so easy to see when you're teary eyed from cutting them.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Have you ever wondered why we give out candy on Halloween? Is it to bribe the ghosts and ghouls? Almost, but the history is a little less spooky than that.
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Kitchen
By Justina Huddleston
Nothing is more disappointing then biting into a slice of cantaloupe to find you've picked an underripe, flavorless fruit. Here's a few tricks to avoid this.
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Facts
By Justina Huddleston
Before, it seemed like the only decision you had to make when buying eggs was whether to opt for white or brown. Now there are a ton of labels to sift through.